Visa Offers Discounts to Travelers in Britain

Travelers using Visa credit cards can get a variety of discounts throughout the United Kingdom with a program called Royal Britain Welcomes Visa.

Launched in conjunction with the British Tourist Authority, the program provides card holders with discounts and various perks when they show a special Visa passport at participating hotels, restaurants, stores, historical buildings and transportation outlets. A 48-page passport booklet details the specific offers and includes both regular and discounted hotel rates. The program runs through June 30, 1993.

To get the passport, card holders should call Visa at (800) 847-2511. There is a $3.75 shipping and handling fee billed against your Visa card.

Among hotel discounts available, the Castle Hotel in the city of Taunton, England, offers a 25% discount on rooms; the Chilston Park Country House in Sandway, near Maidstone, 50% discounts, and the Bell Inn at Aston Clinton, a few miles east of Aylesbury, 25% off two weekend nights. Sixteen Heritage Hotels in Scotland offer 25% discounts. Some hotels offer card holders complimentary meals and gifts instead of room discounts.

More than 40 restaurants are offering 10% discounts on meals. Some restaurants also offer a complimentary dish or drink.

Some examples in the shopping section: Mappin & Webb, jewelers and silversmiths with branches throughout Great Britain, offers card holders a 10% reduction on any purchase; Swaine Adeney Brigg & Son in London offers 40% discounts off any of its umbrellas and the Spode china factory in Stoke-on-Trent offers a free tour of the factory plus a gift. Some stores offer discounts only after minimum purchases, which can be on the hefty side.

Card holders can also get discounts of 30%-60% off Budget rental cars, a 25% discount on regularly scheduled day excursions in Britain offered by the Venice-Simplon-Orient Express rail service, and a 10% discount on some services of P&O; European Ferries (except during July and August).